The Academia to Industry Journey Connor Bowen and Steven Dunn
For our industry edition, we caught up with two members who have made the move from academia to industry. Find out more about Connor Bowen and Steven Dunn’s journeys.
Hi Connor, where are you currently based and what is your role? I am currently working at Ingenza Ltd, UK, based at the Roslin Innovation Centre. I am a Senior Scientist in the Molecular Biology team. My role currently involves strain construction for production of proteins in the yeast Pichia pastoris ( Komgatella phaffi ). How did your journey from academia to industry begin? After I had made the decision to move on from academia, I was fortunate to have a good friend who had made the transition to industry a few years earlier so asked for his advice. He answered some of my questions about what to look for in a company and helped guide me on how to change my CV from being academically focussed to having a more industrial focus. I then started to look for companies in the area that had a scientific focus and made contact with these companies. Fortunately, at the time I was looking to move from academia, Ingenza was hiring, so I sent them my new industry focussed CV and was invited for an interview. What has been your biggest challenge so far? I think one of the biggest challenges initially was leaving my colleagues and projects behind after investing so much energy into them. Once I started at Ingenza it was bit of a learning curve working in a larger team on projects with lots of people performing different roles within a project. This means your work must fit into a much bigger machine and you need to all be working to the same standards and schedules to ensure everything is delivered on
time. This can be a challenge but also a motivation to ensure you keep everything moving for the team and the customers. What has been your best experience so far working in industry? I think, so far, it has been the team that I am part of. All the team at Ingenza are incredibly supportive and very positive. The variety of projects we work on is also very exciting as you never quite know what you may be involved in next or what the product may be used for in the future, whether that be towards addressing global challenges in human health or helping make our planet more sustainable. Finally Connor, do you have any advice for others considering a move from academia to industry? My major piece of advice would be to try it; the move may be right for you. I would also say that moving from academia you have many skills that you may not be aware of that industrial positions are looking for, so don’t sell yourself short. Non- academic positions come in different shapes and sizes, so there will be an industry role out there that will suit you and your skillset.
Connor Bowen Senior Scientist Ingenza Ltd, UK
connor.bowen@ingenza.com @ConnorB_micro @IngenzaLtd
12 Microbiology Today May 2023 | microbiologysociety.org
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